What will be the impact of MICA on the park?

A:

None of the maintained trails or public spaces will be affected.

The walkway around the great lawn of the park will remain in place, as will the lawn itself, the pergola, the children’s play area and the skateboard park. The western slope, with its trails and stairway, will remain wooded and intact. The wooded and unmaintained area between the recycling center and the skateboard park will be smaller as a result of the MICA project and MICA has undertaken to work with the City to re-landscape and improve this area. The entire area surrounding the building will be landscaped with proper soils and native plantings.

MICA plans to provide an aesthetically pleasing building, plaza and landscaping as reflected by the conceptual renderings of the proposed project. MICA’s design team was chosen for their recognized design expertise and for their knowledge of Mercer Island. Led by Mercer Island native, Lesley Bain, FAIA, the team includes members who have designed public facilities and theaters throughout the country (including local examples McCaw Hall and Chihuly Garden and Glass).

The team’s landscape architect, OLIN, selected to ensure the integration of the facility with Mercerdale Park and for their commitment to creating sustainable and natural public spaces, has designed award-winning parks including Bryant Park and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Academy of Fine Arts and Barnes Museum in Philadelphia and Director’s Park in Portland, Oregon. The use of drought tolerant native plantings will not only play a role in our LEED certification, but will also create a more functional ecological habitat than currently exists in the park.